Blinds do make sense...and change out those Can Flood lamps to "Spot" lamps, plus put 'em on a Dimmer iffin' they ain't on one already.

You can dim your LEDs..you should.do so to the point that you have a subtle "Glow" around the screen, not a bright Halo. That degree of obvious gross reflection of light off the Ceiling/Wall juncture would be /is a terrible handicap to any screen design.

There are reasonable limits to everything, and proper ways to use / present them. A failure to exercise such Front Projection-oriented jurisprudence can mislead others into wrongful conclusions.

If you want to pump out that much brightness, or anything remotely akin to such, you'll need to make a concerted effort to "Black Out" at least 24" of the ceiling above the screen.

Take note of how intensely the light is reflected off the ceiling directly above the screen. It's so intense that there is almost no difference in fl reflection off the ceiling / upper screen wall juncture and the originating LED lights. In fact, both appear almost identical. Only the sidewall, being further removed shows a lessor effect.

Just pointing out that with great Back-lighting come great responsibility. Used wisely it's a great effect. Used incorrectly and it becomes a detrimental thing.

Blinds do make sense...and change out those Can Flood lamps to "Spot" lamps, plus put 'em on a Dimmer iffin' they ain't on one already.

You can dim your LEDs..you should.do so to the point that you have a subtle "Glow" around the screen, not a bright Halo. That degree of obvious gross reflection of light off the Ceiling/Wall juncture would be /is a terrible handicap to any screen design.

There are reasonable limits to everything, and proper ways to use / present them. A failure to exercise such Front Projection-oriented jurisprudence can mislead others into wrongful conclusions.

If you want to pump out that much brightness, or anything remotely akin to such, you'll need to make a concerted effort to "Black Out" at least 24" of the ceiling above the screen.

Take note of how intensely the light is reflected off the ceiling directly above the screen. It's so intense that there is almost no difference in fl reflection off the ceiling / upper screen wall juncture and the originating LED lights. In fact, both appear almost identical. Only the sidewall, being further removed shows a lessor effect.

Just pointing out that with great Back-lighting come great responsibility. Used wisely it's a great effect. Used incorrectly and it becomes a detrimental thing.

Thanks for the additional tips. Helpful as always. Both the LEDs and cans do dim and will be for any normal activity in the room. There will definitely be some more painting of the room and I like the idea of blacking out the ceiling too. I say the project is "done" but you know how these things go, they can always get better and I'll probably just keep working on it forever

The screen part of the basement has now been painted! It's a really dark blue, which has done a great job at cutting out the reflections. I was still considering some of that flockboard you recommended for the ceiling since that's still a big source of reflection. Any suggestions on how to affix that stuff to the ceiling?

did you ever consider using something like this to suspend it from the ceiling (like the supernova blade) ??
tinyulr pmz3gaq

I'm think of getting a sheet of 6mm sintra and hanging it that way .. because this material is bound to be lighter than the metal sheet the supernova is, i was think on using some of these for the bottom :
tinyulr of6dh49

I can think of one thing that could happen
1) bow-in of the sheet ... (i could use two of the aforementioned posts on the wall near the center to push out the pvc sheet..?)

do you have any suggestions or comments? .
great project btw.. you ROCK and so does your setup.

did you ever consider using something like this to suspend it from the ceiling (like the supernova blade) ??
tinyulr pmz3gaq

I'm think of getting a sheet of 6mm sintra and hanging it that way .. because this material is bound to be lighter than the metal sheet the supernova is, i was think on using some of these for the bottom :
tinyulr of6dh49

I can think of one thing that could happen
1) bow-in of the sheet ... (i could use two of the aforementioned posts on the wall near the center to push out the pvc sheet..?)

do you have any suggestions or comments? .

Welcome to AVS's DIY Screen Forum ! It's great to see a Member since 2007 post up first on DIY Screens.

Mind if I interject?

While it is possible to free-hang a 6mm sheet of Sintra, any hanging method that involves a attachment on the rear of the material will require that direct support from top - to - bottom be accommodated to prevent the surface from pitching. While such an occurrence is not absolutely guaranteed to happen, the physics involved with such makes it a real possibility unless the sheet is hung from points directly centered along the top Edge.

thank you for the valuable information MM .. i will keep that in mind when i try it out; i was looking to compensate the pitching by having the sheet not only hanging from the ceiling, but also resting on some wall standoffs. (i've seen floating pictures hung this way)

i've lurked around forever, and i've seen some incredible things done here over the past years.. i always go.. wooow.. coool.. and move on and read some more . i guess is time i start participating (with your help)
thanks again for the warm welcome.

Though it looks like MM has already handled the question, I was going to say something along the lines of it still needing some type of frame to ensure that the board doesn't flex. The stuff really is pretty flexible and due to the large surface area I'd be afraid that even the currents produced by air circulation in the room could cause some minor fluctuations if it wasn't braced.

Other than that, I'm glad the project inspired you to post! I've always been the kind of person that was intimidated by doing a custom or DIY project since there is a little more risk involved. Of course, I did recruit a little help for this project but in retrospect I have to say that I am so glad I did it this way instead of buying an off the shelf solution. This turned out even cooler than I had hoped and gave me something really unique that people even spending twice as much don't have.

Also, these DIY Screen forums are really active (thanks in part to the rapid response time of MM) so getting feedback on project direction is easy when things don't go exactly the way you'd thought they would. If I had to do it all over again, I'd take this same route in a heartbeat!

Sorry to post to an old thread but I'm still new and can't PM yet. I'm doing a zero edge, backlit screen and saw this build from a couple years ago. I love the way your screen glows and am trying to do something similar, but I'm curious what it looks like with the darker wall behind it? I didn't see you post any follow up pics once you had painted the wall. Got one?

Also, after painting the screen I just want to add that the basement will be painted a neutral grey color for light control...

Did u buy (2) strands of led lights to cover fully around frame or did you have enough with 16 feet?
And do u have any pictures of Sinatra board before painting? And where oh where did you find the Sinatra board? Thx

Did u buy (2) strands of led lights to cover fully around frame or did you have enough with 16 feet?
And do u have any pictures of Sinatra board before painting? And where oh where did you find the Sinatra board? Thx

Yes it took 2 strands to cover the frame. The sintra just looks white before painting so a photo wouldn't look much different. Forum member MississippiMan helped me find a local supplier but it came from a sign shop.

aaand we're done! Here everything is put back together. Keep in mind there is a window directly facing the screen so there is quite a bit of ambient light. I did expect slightly more ambient light rejection but I guess that's hard with the window pretty much facing the screen. I guess that's what blinds are for. Also the backlighting is set to full brightness in these shots which will not be the case for watching movies.

I'll be painting the room grey later this month but this at least gets the point across for the "DIY Screens" thread